Transition
by LuV2Writ3
Summary: KuroFai. MAJOR chapter 167 spoilers: Fai knew that they would reach this place at some point, he just didn’t realize that it would happen so soon.


Disclaimer: I do not own Tsubasa. If I did, Fai and Kuro would have the whole story for themselves and it would be categorized as "yaoi"

Repeat: Major spoilers for chapter 167!!!

Written for one purpose: 167 NEEDED more explanations. Thus, you get this.

-x-x-

**Transition**

-x-x-

It all had happened too fast. Fai still wasn't exactly sure if it was all over; he was expecting to look over his shoulder and find that he was still in Celes, forced to stay next to his King's dead body for the rest of eternity.

Left behind while the others were able to continue their jouney.

It was what he wanted. Someone had needed to stay behind for the curse to allow everyone else to leave. He had realized that as Kurogane tried to pull him through the small opening, strong grip never letting go. He was going to die in Celes. Left behind again. But that would have been the best scenario. He would willingly sacrifice himself for the sake of the others. A fact that continuously scared him.

But Kurogane hadn't let that happen.

Fai knew he should have expected it. Kurogane never let things happen the way Fai wanted them.

He still wasn't sure about how he felt about that...

Their landing was thankfully softer than some of their others. He didn't recognize where they were, the surrounding forest giving nothing away. Fai saw Syaoran still clutching the unmoving body of Sakura, the boy looking dazed, although that familiar fire still seemed banked in his brown eyes. It was almost scary to think that if Syaoran hadn't used Mokona's earring as quickly as he had...both Kurogane and Fai would have been left in the closing world of Celes.

Fai could still feel that crazed panic when he had realized that his magic wouldn't have been enough to get Kurogane out of there. He had thought he had failed the tall ninja.

Shivering depite their new world being warm, Fai felt the strong grip on his arm finally weakening. He was able to keep Kurogane from collapsing onto the ground, Fai's hands lowering the ninja to lean against him as the two lay on the ground.

He was at a loss of what to do. If left unattended for much long, Kurogane was going to bleed to death. It was a surprise that the dark-haired male hadn't already done so. Fai was certain it was because Kurogane was utterly stubborn.

"Fai-san..."

The magician looked up at Syaoran, looking at the younger's frightened and worried expression. He, too, was holding someone he cared for and was unable to keep safe. Fai wanted to give Syaoran a warm smile like he would have so long ago, or some encouraging words to make the boy feel better. But Fai couldn't even force himself to, depsite all of the practice he had over the years.

What could he possibly say in a situation like this?

He had to say something though. He always felt uneasy now, whenever left alone with Syaoran, but that would have to be put aside for now. They were the only two awake and it was up to them to make sure that everything would be okay. And it was up to him to be the voice of reason.

"Let's try to find someplace where we can get help." Fai said softly, glancing over at the unconcious Kurogane.

Before anything else could be said, there was the sound of swords being drawn and a female voice called out.

"Don't move. We have you surrounded."

Syaoran and Fai exchanged looks, both tightening their hold on the person they cared about. They would both fight if they had two, but neither were in the right state of mind or physical condition to do so.

A single woman walked out from the hiding forest darkness and came to stand in front of them, her expression quickly going to righteous anger and caution to that of curiousity and waryness.

Her hair was short and her face strong and she looked familiar...

Syaoran recognized her before Fai did. "Souma?" His voice was surprised and he looked as though he couldn't quite believe his eyes.

The woman looked surprised as well, that a stranger knew her name but her dark eyes were drawn to the severely injured being in Fai's arms. "K...Kurogane?" She moved closer but Fai only glared up at her, not trusting anyone until he knew what was going on. She apparantly knew him but that didn't necessarily mean anything good...

"He's ...actually back. That idiot, I thought he'd never return. Although, I always thought he would be in one piece..." Souma knelt down and looked at Fai, her fierce expression gone, leaving only reassuring strength. "It's okay. You're in Nihon now. Kurogane's home."

Kurogane's home...

Fai stared up at her, not wanting to believe it. But he didn't have much time to think about anything before Souma was gesturing to beings only she could see and then there were horses and their riders approaching from everywhere. Two men came and tried to take Kurogan away from Fai but he only pushed them away. He may have been less muscular than all of them, but his vampire status gave him more strength.

"No. I'll ride with Kurogane..." His voice was almost dark and dangerous. He knew they were all safe now, but that didn't matter...

Souma gave him a searching look before nodding. "Alright. But at least let us help you get him up there with you."

Fai shook his head. "No...I can do it. Help Syaoran with Sakura." He told them, not allowing anyone to get any closer. The two men waited for Souma's approval before approaching Syaoran instead.

For the first time, Fai was thankful for his extra strength from being a vampire as he was able to easily get Kurogane onto the horse with him. Without the added strength, he would have never been able to do so without help.

Soon, everyone was mounted and they were riding towards Shirasagi castle.

-x-x-

Tomoyo-hime seemed to have been expecting them when they finally reached the entrance. She only gave a sad smile before gesturing for everyone to come inside. Her dark purple eyes were too all-knowing and made Fai feel uneasy.

But she was helping them and so it didn't matter.

There were already healers waiting for them when they first walked in, and they immediately went over to Syaoran and Sakura and brought the two younger kids into a seperate room.

"We should get Kurogane healed." Tomoyo-hime stated softly, giving Fai a smile that made it seem as though everything was alright with the world. She came over and placed a gentle hand over Fai's and slowly pulled his tight grip away from clutching onto Kurogane's tattered clothing.

More healers took Kurogane into a different adjoining room and Fai stared numbly as they closed the door.

"It will be okay, Fai." Tomoyo-hime's voice was still soft and her smile was still in place. Fai wasn't sure if he liked her or not. "You should get yourself cleaned up and healed too, while the others are getting taken cared of."

She paused almost thoughtfully. "I'll need to help with healing Kurogane, however. But I will be back to check up on everyone afterwards."

She began to pull away and Fai realized that she was going to do the one thing that he had always wanted to be able to do. She was going to use magic to heal Kurogane. It was something he should have done.

He didn't spare her a glance before going into the room that Kurogane had been brought into. The healers had already removed his shirt and his wounds were now clearly visible. Fai almost felt sick at the sight of so much blood and gaping wounds from the icicle. He could see the bone and shredded tissue of where Kurogane's left arm used to be. Fai shivered.

Tomoyo-hime follwed Fai into the room and didn't seem surprised or upset that Fai hadn't listened to her. Instead she only smiled sadly. "Fai, we are going to heal him now. It would be better if you got cleaned up and let a healer attend to your own wounds."

"I want to help."

She smiled again. Fai didn't have to ask to realize that she knew that he would never be able to have healing magic like she did.

"Okay." Tomoyo-hime agreed softly. "You can clean his wounds for me so that any infection won't get trapped in the newly healed flesh." Fai nodded and grabbed a cloth and the warm water that someone had brought in and begane to gently wipe away the blood and dirt from Kurogane's chest.

Fai put all of his focus onto his task and didn't allow his mind to go off into the utter guilt and sorrow he felt for causing all of this pain. There would be time to lose himself into self guilt later.

He didn't stop even after the water had been tainted a deep murky red and someone had to bring out more. He didn't stop after Kurogane's horrible wounds had been cleaned as best as they would get, even though they were both bleeding profusely. He just continued dutifully cleaning the rest of Kurogane's upper body, taking care with the ninja's face and neck. Cleaning all of the grime from his shoulders and his right arm. Fai cleaned the rest of Kurogane's right hand feeling the strong hand in his own, remembering how Kurogane hadn't even paused to use this same hand to sacrifice his own arm.

Fai held tightly onto Kurogane's hand as Tomoyo-hime did her best to close the bleeding wounds. He didn't stop watching Kurogane's face until after Tomoyo-hime softly stated she had done all she could do and the rest of the healing would have to happen naturally.

He looked up at her. "He's going to live?" Of all the other questions, it was this one that had scared him the most.

She nodded, smiling softly. "Yes." She told him simply. "He's not going to wake for a while now. His body needs a lot of rest, so this would be a good time to get yourself cleaned up as well."

Fai knew she was right. "Okay..."

Tomoyo-hime called for Souma to take him to another room and Fai followed, although he knew that he would rush through it to make sure he got back as soon as he could. He paused in his steps and looked at the woman. "How are Syaoran and Sakura?"

Souma grinned. "They're fine. Sleeping and everything. Don't worry about it. You need to take care of yourself now."

-x-x-

Fai hadn't realized just how much blood had been on him. What made it worse was that most of it wasn't his own blood...Kurogane...

He almost furiously scrubbed at his body to try and get rid of the now-dried crimson stains. It was proof of how much he had caused Kurogane to suffer. His skin was clean but still felt tainted and stung painfully as Fai continued to try and scrub it all away.

-x-x-

True to Tomoyo-hime's word, Kurogane hadn't moved when Fai finally returned to the ninja's room. He was glad that no one else was in the room and Fai took his spot back to the side of the bed.

Kurogane looked almost too peaceful lying there. If Fai hadn't been able to see the steady rise and fall of Kurogane's chest, he would have thought that the man was dead...

Reaching out, Fai brushed his fingers against Kurogane's cheek, his own hand shaking slightly. He couldn't understand why Kurogane would do something like that. It would have just been easier to leave Fai behind as the sacrifice...not the ninja's arm. Fai was more expendable, didn't Kurogane realize that? Fai had wanted to die when he realized what was happening and what would need to happen in order to get Kurogane out of Celes alive. He had been willing die in the closed world...But Kurogane hadn't let him...

"_Go!" Fai tried to relay everything he was feeling in that one syllable as he urged the other man to get out of the closing world. _

_Fai saw Kurogane's almost confused face before some sort of realization crossed his expression and there was second that time seemed to have stopped. Fai stared up at the crimson eyes, wanting, wishing he knew what was going on in the ninja's mind. _

_Almost in slow motion, Kurogane finally let go of his strong grip on Fai's arm. Fai gave him a small, genuine smile, glad that for once, Kurogane had listened to him and realizing that this would be the last time he ever saw the other male..._

_Then Kurogane was drawing his sword and without even hesitating, brought the sharp blade through the bone and flesh at the shoulder joint of his left arm. His blood was thick and angry red and spilled everywhere. _

_  
Fai stared up at him numbly, dazed at what had just happened. Kurogane didn't wait before grabbing Fai's arm once again and pulling the magician through the small portal and onto the glowing magic symbols with the rest of the group. _

Fai pulled his hand away from Kurogane's face, clenching it into a fist. "It was my curse." He told the unconcious man, his voice angry and confused. "Why would you do that?"

He paused and shook his head. "You should have just left me there..." He continued softly, taking a hold of Kurogane's right hand. "You would easily be able to protect Syaoran and Sakura without me. I'm just a burden. You've suffered so much because of me.

"I don't understand you...Why? Why would you do that? Why do you seem to care so much?" It didn't make any sense and as much as he wanted the questions answered, Fai knew he would have never asked if Kurogane had been awake.

Fai tightened his hold on the tanned hand. "You're just going to stay here, aren't you? Of course we landed in Nihon...You go and do something like that and then you're going to stay with your princess." Fai felt some sort of strange pain in his chest and he couldn't understand what it was. Its pain reminded him of a long time ago...when his twin had been torn away from him and placed in a tower too high to reach no matter how hard Fai had tried. He had felt like that as he did now. Hopeless and sad and wishing he could do something, anything, to change what was happening.

"I...I don't want you to stay here..." Fai admitted softly, bringing Kurogane's hand up to his lips and placing a soft kiss upon the warm skin. Finally, a tear escaped but Fai quickly brushed it away.

Some time passed in silence and Fai simply watched the sleeping ninja.

"He wouldn't want you to be so upset."

Fai wasn't surprised that Tomoyo-hime had appeared so suddenly. He didn't glance at her, keeping his blue gaze on Kurogane's face.

"It was his choice." Tomoyo-hime continued. "He could have easily left you behind. Instead, he gave up his arm."

Fai wanted to yell at her for her words. They were giving him hope. Hope for what, he wasn't exactly sure. Something that he had always wanted and craved, that connection with one other person. Love? Fai had never believed in love before...was that how he felt for Kurogane? He wasn't even sure how to explain it.

Tomoyo-hime placed a hand on Fai's shoulder, a warm, reassuring presence. "It doesn't need to be explained." She told him softly. "Just let it be. It shouldn't be ignored or pushed away but... Just let it be and take it one day at a time."

Fai finally tore his eyes away from watching Kurogane and looked at her. Her eyes were kind and compassionate and she gave him a warm smile before leaving once again.

Feeling a little confused and having too many emtions seeming to try and overwhelm him, Fai turned his gaze back onto Kurogane.

_It shouldn't be ignored or pushed away..._

How was it that she knew exactly what to say to make him feel as though all of his worries were unneeded. Fai tightened his hold on Kurogane's hand once again and continued to watch over the sleeping ninja until he, too, fell asleep.

-x-x-

He had left to go see Syaoran and Sakura for a few minutes and he hadn't needed the messenger to know that Kurogane was now awake. He didn't need to have the messenger tell him that Tomoyo-hime wanted a few minutes alone with Kurogane before Fai came back into the room.

He waited outside, listening to the soft spoken words and wondering what it would be like when he walked back inside. Would Kurogane be angry with him. Fai was slightly angry at the ninja but only because Kurogane hadn't listened to him. He wanted to just rush in there and tell Kurogane everything that he wished to say.

But he was afraid. He wasn't even sure how to say things like that. He had said them a million times before...but had never truly meant them. He didn't want Kurogane thinking he was just being an idiot again.

"I am sorry for making you wait. Please, come inside." Tomoyo-hime's voice raised in volume to make sure that Fai had heard her and he took in a calming breath and let it out slowly.

He felt strangely nervous as he entered the room, and kept his gaze towards the floor, not daring to look at Kurogane too soon. He didn't need to see to be able to feel Kurogane's sharp eyes on him.

_One day at a time..._

"Oi." Kurogane's voice didn't sound any different and Fai found that it was as if he could hear everything that was going on in the other's mind in that one syllable.

The ninja had once said that he hated people like Fai. He wanted to show that he had changed for Kurogane.

He punched him.

"This is payback, Kuro-sama." The old nickname felt strangely good as it escaped his lips and Fai smiled at Kurogane, fist still raised.

Kurogane's almost funny expression of complete shock slowly turned into a grin as he watched Fai. "...I'll get you!" And then he was chasing Fai.

They hadn't needed to say anything else at that moment. Only bask in the old familiarity of their words.

_One day at a time..._

_-x-x-_

Thank you for reading.

---LuV


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